Whether you want a gentle intro to adventure or a high-adrenalin, dice-with-death escapade, someone somewhere will offer the activity for you.

The great thing about most of these outdoor activities is that they provide the best ways of experiencing the landscape you’re travelling through.

Take the Arctic Circle in winter – head to Kiruna in Sweden to mush your own team of huskies for an exhilarating ride across the icy wilderness. Or do as the locals do in Québec, Canada, and strap on a pair of cross-country skis to explore the pine forests. In Spitsbergen you can zip over frozen lakes on a snowmobile – you might even meet a polar bear.

If the water is less solid, explore other options. Kayaking and canoeing are great ways to access hidden coves and lakeshores. For example, trundle along the gentle waterways of Latvia for castle close-ups, float around the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, to soak up the maritime history, or – for something completely different – view the skyscrapers of New York City from kayak-level with a paddle up the Hudson River.

If you like the water more rapid, try rafting the white water of Slovakia (some of Europe’s best), the croc and hippo-full Zambezi, or the casbah-lined rivers of Morocco.

Underwater, you can learn to dive worldwide – the Caribbean’s ‘nature isle’, Dominica, is a good spot. Or why not snorkel with killer whales in the Norwegian fjords? Diving with whale sharks off little-known Djibouti will earn you good bragging rights, while swimming with dolphins off New Zealand’s South Island can be an emotional experience.

Back on land you could jump on a horse for a gaucho-style gallop across the Argentine pampa, camel trek out into the deserts of Rajasthan, India, hike up mighty Mount Damavand, Iran…

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